Robert Reich: ROMNEY/RYAN---$6,500 A Year MORE For Medicare - to Finance BIGGER Tax Cuts For Wealthy

[kpete]

Robert Reich
Whose Plan Destroys Medicare -- Obama's or Romney-Ryan's?
Posted: 08/14/2012 11:55 am

.......................................

The big difference, though, is the Affordable Care Act achieves these savings by reducing Medicare payments to drug companies, hospitals, and other providers rather than cutting payments to Medicare beneficiaries.

The Romney-Ryan plan, by contrast, achieves its savings by turning Medicare into a voucher whose value doesn't keep up with expected increases in healthcare costs -- thereby shifting the burden onto Medicare beneficiaries, who will have to pay an average of $6,500 a year more for their Medicare insurance, according an analysis of the Republican plan by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Moreover, the Affordable Care Act uses its Medicare savings to help children and lower-income Americans afford health care, and to help seniors pay for prescription drugs by filling the so-called "donut hole" in Medicare Part D coverage.

The Romney-Ryan plan uses the savings to finance even bigger tax cuts for the very wealthy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/ryan-medicare_b_1775958.html

[Lucy Goosey]

1. Every Democrat needs to say this whenever they are at a microphone

Reich nails it, as usual - this is framed perfectly. You will pay more for healthcare so that Romney can have a <1% tax rate.

[liberalmuse]

2. Absolutely!

This really needs to get out there.

[Freddie]

3. Thank you--just posted on FB!

I am so sick of hearing about the $7B "Obamacare steals from Medicare" and the nut jobs keep repeating it without explanation.

[DearAbby]

4. It's okay to ask the question of ROMNEYRYAN

What's in it for us? Why should we vote for austerity for ourselves, while you get a bigger tax cut?

[ProSense]

5. With so many

"Moreover, the Affordable Care Act uses its Medicare savings to help children and lower-income Americans afford health care, and to help seniors pay for prescription drugs by filling the so-called "donut hole" in Medicare Part D coverage. "

...people spreading lies, it's good to see people like Reich, Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders out in force countering them.

[HeiressofBickworth]

6. Ok, I'm willing to put this in real-life numbers

My social security benefits are $17,832 a year (which is what's left after Medicare takes out its premium). An additional $6,500 a year would leave me $11,332 to live on for the year. My yearly real estate taxes are $2,500 (or so) which leaves $8,832. My yearly social security supplement insurance is another $816 a year, leaving $8,016. Then there's car insurance, heat, lights, water, sewer, garbage removal, and we still haven't gotten to the ESSENTIALS like food and medicines. So from which portion of my ASS do they think I'll come up with another $6,500????????

And, compared to a lot of other seniors, I'm doing ok on what I get now. What will others do?